Apparatus for feeding magazines or other articles.



PATENTED OUT. 9, 1906.

A. LYLE. APPARATUS FOR FEEDING MAGAZINES OR OTHER ARTICLES.

APPLIOATIDN FILED JAN. 30, 1906. RENEWED JUNE 23, 1906.

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APPARATUS FOR FEEDING MAGAZINES OR OTHER ARTICLES. APPLIUATION rum) M31230, 1905. RENEWED JUNE 23, 1906 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- n-n: mamas PETERS 00., wnsumaron, n. c.

No 833,071. PATENTED OUT. 9, 1906.

A. LYLE.

APPARATUS FOR FEEDING MAGAZINES OR OTHER ARTICLES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. so, 1905. RENEWED JUN; 23. 1906.

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9 B a a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER LYLE, OF CHATTANOOGA,' TENNESSEE, ASSIGNOR TO DWIGHT P. MONTAGUE AND CHARLES OWENS, OF OHATTA- NOOGA, TENNESSEE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed January 30,1905. Renewed June 23, 1906. Serial No. 323,118.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER LYLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ap aratus for Feeding Magazines and other Artlcles, of which the followin is a specification.

My invention is designed for automatically feeding papers, magazines, circulars, or other articles consisting of one or more single sheets folded or bound together or articles of different thicknesses which are to be delivered to the machine to be operated upon thereby.

The invention consists in the features and combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the lnvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view; Fig. 3, an end elevation. Fig. 4. is a sectional detail view showing the means for holding and operating the feed-fingers. Fig. 5 is a detailed side view of the parts shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a side View of the cam for controlling the feed-fingers, and Fig. 7 is a face view of the said cam.

In the drawings, 1 indicates adjustable side walls of a hopper for containing the articles to be fedsuch, for instance, as magazines. These side walls are carried by arms 2, adjustably connected with the frame 3 by screws 4 passing through slots in the said arms to allow adjustment, and by these means the side walls may be adjusted toward and from each other to suit articles or magazines of different lengths. placed within the hopper on edge and with their backs or folded portions uppermost. The articles rest upon conveyer-chains 5, of which the drawings show one at each side of the hopper and one in the center. These chains run longitudinally of the hopper over sprocket-wheels 6 7, carried by shafts 8,;supported in brackets 9, extending down from the frame. The sprocket-wheel 7 is driven through a ratchet-wheel 10, fixed to its shaft, and a pawl 11, pivoted to the outer end of an arm 12, which turns about the said ratchetshaft and is operated through a link 13, adjustably connected at its upper end 14 with a disk 15 on the shaft-16, which is j ournaled in suitable-bearings on the frame. The adjust- The magazines or other articles arement of the link 13 in relation to the disk is permitted by providing a way or groove in the face of the disk to receive the bolt which secures the link thereto.

The magazines are fed forward by the operation of the chains, and the foremost article or magazine is pressed against a stop or flange 17, arranged above the carrying-chains and suitably supported on a part of the frame. The magazines are also pressed upon by follower-rollers 18, carried by a shaft 19 extending above the hopper and havinggear-wheels 20 at its ends engaging with rack-bars 21, fixed to the frame of the machine adjacent the hopper. The shaft 19 at its central portion is provided with a grooved disk or pulley 22, about which a rope is wound, the lower end of the said rope carrying'a weight 23, the tendency of which is to turn the pulley and its shaft so as to press the magazines forwardly by bringing the follower-rollers 18 to bear upon the last magazine of the series.

From the hopper the magazines are taken one by one by means of feed-wheels 23, which are adjustably secured in any suitable manner to the shaft 16, before mentioned. These feed-wheels are fixed at a distance apart to suit the lengths of the magazines or other articles being fed, and they are provided with flanges 23, which lie with their inner faces substantially in the same vertical plane with the inner faces of the walls or sides of the hopper, and they form substantial continuations of the guide-walls for the magazines or other articles. The said feed wheels have these flanges arranged at a point intermediate of their width, and thus provide drum-like bearing-surfaces 24 for the magazines to rest upon. The feed-wheels carry feed-fingers which are adapted to engage the magazines automatically by penetrating between their leaves, engaging the backs or folded portions thereof, the said fingers acting to lift the magazines or other articles from the hopper and carry the same to conveyerbelts 25, which direct the magazines to a machine to be supplied, as will be hereinafter described.

The feed-fingers operate transversely in relation to the flange 23 of the feed-wheels, the said fingers being indicated at 26 extending through openings 27 in the said flange and being carried by arms 28, extending radially inward in relation to the periphery of the feed-wheel, each arm being carried by a slide or bolt 29, adapted to have movement in a direction parallel with'the axis of the feedwheel. The arm 28 is held to the slide by a screw 30, and the said slide has a cavity 31,, in which is located a spring 32, attached to the slide at one end and to the feed-wheel at the other end and having a tendency to move the slide so that the feed-finger will be projected through the slot 27, so as to penetrate between the leaves of the magazines for lifting the same by engagement with the back thereof, said attachment being provided by the spring having its inner end passing through the slide and its outer end engaging a cross-pin 29', fitting against the face of the wheel and extending across the bore of the slide. The arm 28 carries a roller 33 at its lower end, adapted to travel upon a cam 34 on a disk or rim 35 supported on a shaft 16. This disk is held stationary in relation to the rotary movement of the feed-,wheel, and in the operation of the said feed-wheel the roller 14 is caused to travel along the cam, and thus control the position of the feed-finger. The cam is shown in Fi 6, and when the roller runs off of this cam the feed-finger will be proj ected to engage the magazine.

It will be understood that each of the feed- Wheels is provided with a series of the feedfingers just described, those on one wheel being arranged opposite those on the other, so that the o posite ends of the article or magazine will Be gras ed simultaneously and be raised from the hopper and fed to the machine.

The cam-disks are capable of adjustment circumferentially, so as to alter the time of operation of the feed-fingers in respect to the points in the revolution of the feed-wheels at which they will be projected, and for this purpose the said cam-disks are loosely arranged upon the shaft 16 and are provided with a series of teeth 36 in their edges, adapted to receive locking-plates 37, adjustablysecured to the frame by bolts 38. By loosening these bolts and throwing back the locking-plates the cam-disks, can be turned to alter the position of the cam-track, and then the said disks may be held in this new position by readjusting the locking-plates into engagement with the teeth.

Conveyer-belts 25, which receive the magazine from the feed-wheels, run over pulleys 38, fixed on a shaft 16, and over pulleys 39 on a shaft 40, arranged at the delivery-point where the magazines are delivered to the machine to wrap, address, or otherwise operate thereupon. It will be understood that the carrying-chains and the follower-rollers keep the magazines pressed against the stop or flange 17, and as soon as one magazine is removed the means just mentioned press the whole series of magazines inwardly until the next one is arrested by contact with the said stop.

The stop 17 serves atwofold purpose-that of arresting the onward movement of the magazine and also preventing the drawing out of two or more magazines together by frictional contact of one with the other. Just as soon as a magazine or other article is drawn above the stop the following magazine takes its place against the said stop.

I do not wish to limit myself to the details of the mechanism shown and described, as various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

The feed-fingers can be adjusted in a radial direction to suit different thicknesses of articles or magazines by simply loosening the screw 30 and setting the arm 28 farther in or out. The flanges 23 on the feed-wheels not only act as guides for the magazines, but as the feed-fingers are withdrawn they prevent the magazine being moved sidewise, and thus getting out of alinement, and this is particularly true when the magazines have corners folded down or crumpled or in magazines having strings or loops attached thereto for purposes of hanging up. One of these feedplates engaging the magazine will insure its being fed in its proper position. The feed- Wheels are provided with flattened portions on their peripheries at the point where the feed-fingers are located in order to facilitate engaging the feed-fingers into the magazines. The drum-like surfaces of the feed-wheels may be grooved, as illustrated at 39 to reduce the amount of surface bearing on the magazine, thus preventing the movement of the magazine until caught by the feed-fingers.

On the shaft 16, about midway of the machine, a drum or disk 4O is arranged of a diameter equal to that of the drum-like portion of the feed-wheels. This is intended to afford a central support for the magazine or article being fed.

The admission of the magazines or other articles into the machine to be supplied may be governed to take place at the proper moment by stops 41. These are lifted at the proper time by a lever-and-link mechanism 42 43 to' allow the feed-belts to introduce the magazineinto the machine.

I do not wish to limit myself to the particular form of feed-wheels, as these members which carry the feed-fingers may be differently constructed and may be moved otherwise than described herein in a continuous rotary manner.

At 44 I show a pressure-roller which is used only when magazines having loose leaves inserted therein are being fed, the purposes of this roller being to maintain control of the magazine with its loose leaf and preventing the dropping out of the latter. I do not, of course, limit myself to the material or article being fed.

I prefer to so arrange the parts that the magazines or other articles will be bent at their upper edges to overhang the stop 17, and thus be in line to be grasped by the feedfingers.

I claim as my invention 1. In an apparatus of the class described, means for holding the magazines or other articles set up on edge and means for engaging the two opposite lateral edges of the said magazines or other articles and feeding the same from the holding means, substantially as described.

2. In combination, in a machine of the class described, means for holding the magazines or other articles set up on edge and means for entering between the leaves at the opposite side edges of the said magazine or other article to remove it from the holding means, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a holder for the m agazines or other articles to hold them set up on edge and feed means for the said articles comprising feed-fingers, rotary carrying means therefor and means for automatically advancing and retracting the said feed-fingers in relation to the carrying means and sub stantially transverse to the paths traveled by them, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a holder for the magazines or other articles and feed means for the said articles consisting of carrying means, feed-fingers carried thereby and means for automatically advancing the feed-fingers substantially at right angles to the paths they travel to enter between the folds or leaves of v the article and from opposite ends thereof when the said feedfingers arrive at a certain point in relation to the said article, substantially as described.

5. In combination, holding means, carrying means having turning movement and feed-fingers carried thereby and having advancing and retracting movement in relation to the said carrying means to grasp the article to be fed, substantially as described.

6. In combination in apparatus of the class described, a holder for the articles to be fed, carrying means having turning movement and provided with guide-flanges for the articles, feed-fingers on the said carrying means having movement in a direction transversely of'the flanges to engage the articles at opposite ends, substantially as described.

7. In combination in apparatus of the class described, means for holding the article set up on edge, carrying means, and feed-fingers carried thereby to engage the articles, said feed-fingers having advancing and retracting movement in relation to the carrying means to engage the articles, substantially as described.

8. In combination in an apparatus of the class described, means for holding the articles set up on edge, feed fingers to engage the said articles and carrying means for the said feedfingers having turning movement and on which the said feed-fingers have movement, substantially as described.

9. In combination in apparatus of the class described, means for holding the articles set up on edge, feed-fingers, turning carrying means for the said feed-fingers adapted to lift the articles from the holding means, said feedfingers having movement in relation to the said carrying means, substantially as described.

10. In combination in apparatus of the class described, means for holding the articles set up on edge, feed-fingers, carrying means therefor rotating in one direction and means comprising a cam for controlling the position of the feed-fingers on the said carrying means, substantially as described.

11. In combination in apparatus of the class described, means for holding the articles, feed-fingers, carriers rotating constantly in one direction on which the said feed-fingers are supported and means for advancin and retracting the feedfingers, substantiafiy as described. i

12. In combination, holding means for the articles, feedfingers, carriers therefor rotating only in one direction, and adjustable cam means for controlling the position of the feedfingers on the carriers in relation to the article to be fed, substantially a described.

13. In combination, holding means for the articles, carrier means, having turning movement, feed-fingers on the carrier means, arms carrying said feed-fingers adjustable radially of the carrying means, and cam means for operating the arms, substantially asdescribed.

14. In combination, holding means for the articles, feed-fingers, carrier means therefor, means for advancing and retracting the feedfingers and means for adjusting them radially of the carrier means, substantially as described.

15. In combination, the holding means having the ledge or stop against which the articles are held set up on edge, feed-fingers for engaging the two opposite lateral edges of the article to be fed and carrying means for the feed-fingers, said feed-fingers being adapted to lift the articles over the said ledge or stop, substantially as described.

16. In combination in apparatus of the. class described, holding means for the articles, a ledge or stop against which the articles bear when set up on edge, automatic follower means for pressing the upper parts of the articles forwardly and feed-fingers with carrier means for engaging the opposite lateral edges of the articles, substantially as described.

17. In combination, the ledge or stop, endless bands or chains for pressing the articles against the stop, follower means for pressing forwardly the upper parts of the article, and

means engaging the opposite ends of the articles for liftingvthem over the ledge or stop and feeding the same forward, substantially as described.

18. In combination, the ledge or stop, endless bands or chains for pressing the articles against the stop, follower means for pressing forwardly the upper parts of the articles, and means engaging the-opposite ends of the articles for lifting them over the ledge or stop and feeding the same forward, said follower means consisting of the rolls having gears associated therewith and rack-bars with which the gears engage, substantially as described.

19. In combination, holding means for the articles, feed-fingers to engage the opposite side edges of the articles, carrying means therefor arranged to turn, said carrying means being associated with a cylindrical or partly cylindrical surface or surfaces upon which the articles rest when drawn from the holding means, substantially as described.

20. In combination, means for supporting the magazines or articles set up on edge, rotary means associated with a cylindrical or partly-cylindrical surface or surfaces to re ceive the articles, feed-fingers carried by the rotary means, and means for advancing and retracting the feed-fingers in line parallel with the axis of rotation, said feed-fingers withdrawing the articles from the holder onto the cylindrical surface.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALEXANDER LYLE.

Witnesses:

ALEX C. LABAR, F. B. SLOAN. 

